The Twisted Road to Redemption
by xxMormortaxx
Summary: Azula sits in a mental Asylum cell. As her hope for rescue dwindles, she is taunted by visions of old enemies... And old friends. Then, a miracle, followed by a meeting with a Firebender who claims he knows her. Is this Azula's chance for redemption? To follow the road of her brother?Follow her, as she takes steps down her shattered past, to attempt to reach a light at the end.
1. Chapter 1: Azula's long wait

{Azula}

The dripping of water had become a familiar noise, constant and never changing. She would sometimes expect to wake up to find her cell half submerged in cold water. When she had first arrived, she had imagined the drip mocking her, mocking her like the day she was defeated by the water tribe peasant known as Katara.

Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, reduced to a restrained prisoner in a cell.

A year and a half had passed since the events where her brother had become Firelord. She would have no visitors, no-one who cared. Everyone she had the potential to be close to, she had pushed away, and now, she was alone.

She sat against the back of the cell, as far from the door as possible, listening to the slight drip somewhere off down the hall. Suddenly, footsteps came echoing towards her, and a voice spoke on the opposite side of the door.  
"You're awfully quiet tonight, Princess Azula."  
Azula didn't answer. Her mind was elsewhere, and any answer she provided would have just been put down to insanity.  
"You may have been in charge once, but in here, I'm in charge, and you'll speak to me when I'm talking to you," He threatened.  
Azula turned her head, looking at her bed.  
"What do you want?" she said bluntly, wanting the guard gone as soon as possible.  
"That's better," he said. "If you want to eat for the next week, you better stop screaming so loud in the middle of the night. You agitate the other crazies."  
"Noted," she said.  
The man snickered, and his footsteps soon faded into the distance.  
In the year that had passed, Azula had endured the worst torments from her insanity. At times, she would wail, as if she was in unbearable pain, other times she would simply not get out of bed, and soil herself constantly. And to make matters worse, the guards where not kind to a young woman incapable of fighting back. She would often picture hurting them, in the worst possible ways. To have them beg for mercy at her firebending prowess. But alas, she had no power. Not now. Not in this cell.  
"You're really looking tired Azula! Beauty sleep does wonders you know!"  
Azula recognized the voice instantaneously, and turned to the opposite side of the cell to see Ty Lee standing there with a smile.  
Azula's mouth dropped open for a moment, but she quickly re-gathered her wit and turned away from her old friend.  
"Ty Lee, you haven't changed a bit. You still have an annoyingly shrill voice."  
Ty Lee cartwheeled back into Azula's sight, and sat herself on Azula's bed.  
"Sorry I haven't visited Azula," She said, with genuine concern in her voice, her face crunched with disappointment.  
"I don't want your visit. You betrayed me. You all betrayed me."  
Ty Lee hopped off the bed and onto her knees, so she was at Azula's height.  
"I was your friend! But I couldn't let you hurt Mai, It just sort of… Happened," she said with an awkward smile.  
"You weren't my friend!" Accused Azula, finding her anger. "You were afraid of me! You all were afraid of me! Your fear insured loyalty!"  
Ty Lee tilted her head, looking confused.  
"Zuko and the Avatar didn't use fear."  
Azula tried to lash herself at her, but her chains restrained her.  
"Zuko and the Avatar are weak!" She protested.  
Ty Lee shrugged, before saying;  
"Then… Why did they win?"  
Azula closed her eyes, as tears ran down her face. She opened them again with a wild angst.  
"Get o-"she paused mid-sentence, looking around her cell for a moment.  
Ty Lee was gone.  
Azula was panting heavily, but she had managed to calm herself down after a few deep breaths.  
Her tears dried, and she exhaled slowly as she continued to sit in silence, listening to the far off drip.  
"Are you serious? Are you really letting Ty Lee provoke you?"  
The next voice was one Azula also knew well.  
"Well, if it isn't the traitor herself," Azula said, turning to face Mai.  
Mai sighed. She was leaning up against the opposite wall to her bed.  
"Are you still bitter about that? Grow up."  
Azula took a deep breath. She refused to let Mai get to her. No, she was far too clever for that.  
"I never thought you would turn on me… So what do you want?" She said, staring Mai down.  
"I guess," Mai began. "I guess I want to know if there was ever a chance for our friendship? You know, a real chance?"  
Azula closed her eyes and shook her head with a smile.  
"Mai never really was a people person. She wouldn't say that."  
The voice that spoke back this time shot chills up Azula's spine.  
"You know your friends are no better than tools. I raised you well, my prodigy."  
Azula opened her eyes.  
"Father." She said.  
"You failed me miserably Azula. You were bested by a southern peasant. You, Princess Azula."  
Azula didn't get angry this time, but knew what words to combat her father with.  
"Don't lecture me father. You were defeated by a 13 year old child."  
He father's eye's suddenly filled with rage, breathing fire from his mouth as he spoke.  
"I was defeated by the master of all four elements! If you had defeated Zuko and his bitch, you could have continued my legacy! You are a failure, just like your brother!"  
Azula turned away. She couldn't believe she was being compared to him.  
"I heard Zuzu visited you. Funny, he never visits me," she said, still not turning to face her father.  
The voice that answered back didn't shock Azula anymore then her father's.

"Don't say that!" Said Zuko. When Azula turned to face him, she gasped to see a younger version of Zuko staring back at her. She looked to his left side, and saw no scar.  
"Zuzu," she said with a sigh. "I was wondering when you would show."  
"I had to see it to believe it. Azula in chains. What happened to you?" Questioned the child Zuko.  
Azula sighed, resting her chin on her knees. She was growing tired of this.  
"It doesn't matter what I say. You're not real. None of you are. This is all in my head."  
The little Zuko came down and sat next to her.  
"No, but these walls are real. The war was real. Your defeat, and your situation, is real. So now, what are you going to do, princess Azula?"  
Azula sat, looking at the younger version of her brother. It was strange for her to see. But he was smiling, and the hatred in her gut faltered at a flicker of hope in her heart. In that moment, she remembered. Remembered what it was like to be in control. To be cunning. To be the prodigy crowned princess of the Fire Nation. But in her silence, she heard the far off drip, and was reminded where she was. And what she was doing. And her flicker of hope was extinguished, and replaced by another memory.  
"Zuko, do you remember when we went to Amber Island as children, and I was pushed over by a man with a long beard?"  
Zuko smiled.  
"Yeah, you cried for ages!"  
Azula let out a faint smile.  
"Do you remember what you said to me back then to make me stop crying?"  
Zuko's smile faded at the question as he shook his head slowly. Azula smiled.  
"No, neither do I," she said.  
Another voice spoke softly. This time coming from her bed.  
"He must have said something very kind to you. I'm happy when you two get along."  
Azula didn't raise her head. She didn't want to look her mother in the eye.  
"You started all this. It all began with you," she accused.  
Her mother's footsteps came closer, as she dropped slowly to her knees, and raised Azula's face to meet her own.  
"I'd never wish this upon you Azula. I love you."  
Azula let a tear fall.  
"You had a funny way of showing it. You always loved Zuko more."  
_Not that I care._  
Her mother smiled, a faint smile admitted upon the helpless, as a mother smiles to her child when they say something innocent.  
"Azula, you can cast blame on everyone. Zuko, Ty Lee, Mai, The Avatar, your father, me, but the actions that lead you up to this point were your own. And only you can take responsibility for your failings. It's time to admit that you can't do everything alone. It's time to admit responsibility for your short comings. Like when you told your father that Zuko had killed the Avatar. Passing on blame will come back around 10 fold. It's time to stop using fear to control people."  
Azula stared at her mother for a second.  
"Don't lecture me mother. I'm not a child anymore."  
"You are never too old to stop learning, just like your uncle Iroh. He learned true love at an older age, with the birth of Lu Ten."  
Azula's stomach bubbled with rage. The thought of her uncle and brother sickened her. The thought of becoming like them, by quelling this rage, seemed like an impossible goal.  
"You are still young, Azula," her mother spoke again. "Far too young to spend your life locked in here, stand up, and become the princess I always wanted you to be, not the one your father crafted out of pressure and hatred."  
Azula smiled wickedly. Her mother had finally given her an opening in which to exploit.  
"You can't lecture me on such things mother! You were pressured into killing Grandfather Azulon by father… Don't think I didn't figure it out… You did it to save Zuko."  
Ursa smiled again.  
"Azula, if Zuko's situation had been reversed to you. I would have done the same things I did that night."  
Azula gasped, this time unable to contain her surprise. But her logic soon kicked in, as she buried her head in her knees.  
"These are just words… Words from an Illusion in my head… You think I'm a monster."  
Her eyes drifted to the left.  
"You don't love me."  
Suddenly, Azula felt the warmth of her mother press up against her. She wasn't quite prepared for the hug her mother had given her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to shout at her to never touch her again, but the warmth, not like the heat from fire or anger, the warmth that filled her like a tea pitcher fills a mug made her sink into her mother's arms.  
She didn't know what to say. Her mouth would drop open, only to shut again a second later. She just realized that she was crying. Azula slowly raised her hands, and returned the hug. Tears ran down her face, and her mother said words that she thought she'd never hear again.  
"I'll always love you, Azula."  
Azula sprang back to her senses, as if she'd been shot with lightning. Her eye's darted around the room in an almost insanity, as she let the childish word escape her lips.  
"Mom?"  
Her mother, was gone.  
Azula's head sank for a second, before she realized her hands weren't behind her back.  
Her head filled with confusion. She slowly brought her hands to her face, and realized she had become unshackled. The marks on her wrist, still dark red from where she had been bound. Her breathing escalated, and her heart rate began to sore.  
_How? How is this possible. It's in my head! It's all in my head!"  
_She had to confirm the dream. She pushed her back against the wall and slowly began to stand. Her unchained legs wobbled, weak from malnourishment and lack of blood. Pins and needles shot through her legs, as for the first time in months, she stood up by herself.  
She almost couldn't believe it. Her chest rose and fell quickly, as an unbelievable feeling of freedom filled her. She couldn't stop herself from letting out a slight chuckle, that became a silly, rising giggle.  
She came to her senses and took a deep breath. Now was not the time for insane tendencies. She was unbound, and now she needed to think of a way out.  
She had no idea what time of day it was. Time became meaningless in the dark cell she was in.  
She had only been served dinner the last few days, and she wasn't sure how far off the Orderly was to delivering that meal.  
She brushed her messy un-kept hair from her face. Now was a good enough time as any to see if she could still produce fire.  
She dropped into her old fighting stance, but her legs could barely hold her up. She pressed her index finger and her middle finger together, breathed, then extended her arm towards the lock on the door with as much speed as she could muster.

Nothing happened.

She gritted her teeth. She quickly hypothesized that it must have been from lack of sunlight over a long period of time. Without firebending the chance of her slipping out of the asylum had been cut in half of an already shaky chance.  
She knew better than to try and produce lightning in her current state. Her positive and negative energy was an intertwined storm inside her, her cracking sanity could spell a messy result.  
She had no choice. She sank back down to her sitting position, put her hands behind her back, and closed her eyes. She would have to wait.

Sometime later, footsteps were coming down the corridor. Azula raised her head.  
"Dinner," said the orderly as he unlocked the door.  
Azula smiled, this had been the chance she'd been waiting for. The orderly came in, leaving the door open behind him, as he had done countless times before.  
The young orderly must have just been in his early 20's. A skinny man with a pale face, not uncommon in the underground "asylum."  
He leant down, cracking the chopsticks and took a ball of rice up in them.  
"Here it comes. Open up," he said.  
Azula drifted her gaze towards him. Now was her chance.  
She darted a swift punch directly into the young man's face, making him reel back in surprise.  
She quickly scooped up the chopsticks and brandished them like weapons. She may have been weak, but her training was all she had now.  
The orderly gained his senses quickly, but Azula had jumped over him and bolted for the door.  
She felt the orderly's hand reach up and catch her ankle. She fell face first, and the orderly took his chance.  
"Help! Help! A patient is escaping!" he yelled franticly.  
Her plan was already falling apart, and she wasn't even out the door yet. She flipped on her back, kicking the orderly in the face with her free leg. The orderly let go and clutched his nose in pain. Azula scrambled to her feet, and turned to run outside when.  
**Thud!**  
She had connected the guard standing in the doorway and had bounced off him like a kuai ball.  
She fell back onto the floor with a thud, losing the chopsticks in the process. This was it. Her plan had failed. The Guard rushed forward, handcuffs in hand.

What happened next was in such a fluid and quick motion, Azula did not at first register what had transpired. The flash of speed followed by the guard hitting the ground. Azula turned. There was now a cloaked figure standing between her and the orderly.  
The orderly looked up from his whimpering, but the cloaked figure moved fast again. He grabbed the orderly by the shirt and threw him against the chained wall. He quickly turned, and to her shock, grabbed Azula's ragged pants and ripped off a fine strip. Azula retreated immediately, covering the bare patch the figure had torn from her leg. The cloak spun around, and gagged the orderly, whilst chaining him up in the same chains once used to bind her.  
He turned again. This time focusing on Azula. She gapped at him and felt she needed to say something.  
"Who are yo- Hey!" she protested, as the figure swept her up into strong arms, before taking off outside the cell.  
"What do you think you're doing?" she protested angrily.  
"Shut up!" replied the voice of a man.  
He turned and twisted down the corridors, and Azula got the feeling she was in some crazy dream.  
Before she knew it. She felt it. Sunlight.  
It stuck her like a thousand daggers at once, but she felt almost instantly better as the sun heated her pale skin.  
The man had stopped, turning left and right. They had appeared to come out of a side entrance, and were now on a hilly cliff face.

"Do you mind telling me just what you think you are doing?" She growled at the man, having mixed feelings about being rescued in such a fashion.  
The man finally looked at her, and she caught a glimpse of his face.  
"I'm busting you out," he said, and with that, she saw a glimmer of white teeth as he smiled.  
Azula sharpened her focus on the man, before seeing a flicker of light out of the corner of her eye.  
"Behind you!" she yelled at him, as the guard's helmet caught the light of the sun.  
The man put her down so fast she thought she had been dropped, and he turned to face the pursers.  
The guards quickly closed in, encircling the pair in six groups of two, one firebender, and a spear wielding guard at their sides.  
"Give up!" yelled the man in front of them. "You're surrounded!"  
The man backed up to so close to Azula, that she could have bitten his leg.  
"You heard me! Relinquish the prisoner and you won't be harmed!"  
The man raised his arms out in front of him, a form Azula instantly recognized.  
"I'll never give in!" He yelled, and with that, he launched a fire ball directly at the man who issued the threat, catching him off guard and making him topple over onto his back.  
Azula smiled. _  
A firebender still loyal to my father. He hasn't forgotten about me.  
_"Attack!" yelled the downed guard.  
All the firebenders stood forward, firing six streams of fire at them both.  
The man spun around, controlling the streams of fire in to a giant inferno sphere around them.  
Azula scurried away from the edges, and realized she was clutching the man's leg to escape the intense heat of the flames. The man planted his foot, and extended his arms out to his side, unleashing a wide, thick circle of fire back at the attackers. The fire connected them all, and in their confusion, the man had swept up Azula again and charged directly at the firebender behind them.  
The guard was getting up from the blow he had just been dealt, but the man jumped straight on top of him, sliding him down the twenty feet hilly cliff face, using him as a sled.  
He jumped off the man and stepped quick into a sprint, still holding Azula close.  
They were running down towards a beach, where to Azula's surprise, there was a Fire Nation ship, identical to the one Zuko was exiled on, waiting for them.  
He ran up the boarding ramp, yelling at the men on deck to hoist anchor, and depart immediately.  
He slowed down into a walk as he neared the accommodation deck, and Azula had noticed everyone staring, then realizing she had her arms wrapped tightly around the man's neck.  
Her embarrassment quickly turned to anger, as she struggled free of the man, dropping to the deck before he could catch her.  
"Let go of me!" she growled. "I can walk by myself!" she summarized, as she slowly began to rise to her feet, her hair dangling in front of her. The man said nothing, but she could feel his eyes on her back as she began to move forward. She didn't know where she was going, as long as it was on her own. Her legs wobbled after two steps, before they gave out on the third as she collapsed to the ground. Her legs still asleep underneath her. She heard the man rush forward.  
"Azula… Let me help you," he said, leaning down to her, extending his arms in invitation. She pushed them away.  
_What's his angle? Who is he?  
_"I don't need your help? Who are you? Why did you rescue me from that place?"  
She tensed up immediately, realizing she had just admitted to being rescued.  
The man moved forward again.  
"You look tired, Azula. And hungry. My men will show you your quarters, then I will explain why I have brought you here, I promise."  
With that, two mean walked up to her, both helping her to her feet. The two men, she instantly recognized, as Ex Dai Li agents.  
The cloaked man walked up to the accommodation deck, latching the door open, and began to head inside. Azula's eye's zeroed in on him.  
"Wait! Aren't you at least going to tell me your name?"  
The man stopped, and turned, pulling back his cowl at the same time.  
Azula was surprised to see a young man, far younger than what she had imagined, staring back at him.  
He must have been around her age, maybe a year or two older. His light brown eyes were surprisingly soft, and his short black hair bristled in the breeze. Above his left eye, a horizontal scar, cut roughly like a glancing blow of a sword. He smiled. A smile that had an unsettling effect on her, which cast her back to a memory of Chan on Ember Island.

"My name is Azazzle, Good to see you again, Princess Azula."


	2. Chapter 2: Azula's confusion

Azula was confused. More so that she had been surrounded by remnants of her shattered past. Everywhere she looked she saw someone vaguely familiar. Ex Dai Li agents, Imperial Firebenders who had served as her father's guards, and a strange little cook who served with Zuko during his exile, all of whom refused to indulge her in conversation, or meet her eyes for more than a second.  
_They all still fear me.  
_  
Night had fallen on the ship, and the crew had made themselves scarcest, as the halls lay hollowed and empty. She retired to her quarters and lay back down on her soft bed. She had been bathed, clothed, and before she retired, she had out eaten the entire crew. She still felt weak. A year and a half in chains had seen her athletic body borderline on the verge of anorexia.  
She had not seen the boy known as Azazzle since she had learned his name on the accommodation deck that morning, but she knew exactly where to find him. She got up again, and began her steady march to the bridge. She arrived, to see Azzazle and another man plotting a course on the chart table, and the helmsmen holding the wheel steady.  
"We need to avoid Fire Nation ships until we are back in Earth Kingdom waters… Then we can – Azula!" he said, obviously caught off guard by her sudden appearance.  
She slowly walked over.  
"What's the situation?" she inquired. The second man spoke out immediately.  
"We are heading into –" Azzazle jabbed the man in the stomach with his elbow followed by a nasty look, silencing the man immediately.  
"Don't worry about it Azula, me and the captain here will handle any issues regarding security and safety."  
Azula crossed her arms angrily.  
"You should consider telling me anything you're hiding right now. You won't want me finding out later when I have my firebending back."  
The captain chuckled. He was a tall man with a mustache that he had grown long on both sides and then had platted them into one. He was older, as most sea captains are, and he had retained a soul patch beard. His green eye's focused on her.  
"With all due respect, "Princess," you are not in command of this ship, and considering Azzazle here just lifted you from a mental Asylum, you should be a little more thankful."  
Azzazle didn't stop the captain this time, but instead looked to Azula, waiting for her rebuttal.  
"I have nothing to be thankful for," she added. "I may have just been moved from one prison to another."  
Azzazle sniggered.  
"That's why we've given you the royal treatment; fine dining, baths, your own cabin. We're obviously running the finest prison ship in the Fire Nation fleet!" he said waving his arms above his head. The captain and Azzazle tittered again before turning back to their charts, as Azula's anger grew ever more.  
"Don't ignore me!" she complained. "I demand to know where I am being taken!"  
Azzazle turned raising his eyebrow.  
"She's true royalty, isn't she captain?"  
The captain chuckled again, every time making Azula increasingly more furious.  
Azzazle walked over, raising his hands, as if to rest them on her shoulders. She immediately palmed both of them away.  
_Don't get too comfortable. I'll figure you out yet.  
_He sighed.  
"Get some sleep Azula, I'll explain in the morning, you have my word."  
She eyed him suspiciously, and she had conveyed her rising tension.  
Azzazle chuckled, and shrugged looking around.  
"Where would I run to? We're gunna be at sea for a while, settle in! I'll still be here tomorrow morning."_  
_Azula shifted uncomfortably, she knew he was up to something, and hopes that her father had sent this rescue party was beginning to fade.  
She turned, and without another word, descended down the bridge stairs.  
She returned to her room, and sat at her chair, staring into the duchess mirror. Her eye's sparkled. She had decided to wear her hair with her typical bangs; she didn't need it hanging down over her face if she ran into trouble. The clothes she was wearing were obviously Earth Kingdom made, not too different from the attire she wore in Ba Sing Se.  
"Those clothes look tacky, put on something a little more patriotic."  
Azula turned around to see herself standing there, in full Royal Fire Nation Battle amour.  
Azula blinked, but her double remained focused and un-wavering.  
"Are you just going to stare at me? Or are you going to say something?" her double teased.  
Azula chuckled slightly.  
"Oh, I get it, I'm my own worst enemy," she said, rolling her eyes at the cliché.  
Azula's double shook her head, a wicked grin appearing on her face.  
"No, I'm the only one you can trust,"  
Azula tightened up at the words. This was a philosophy she had adhered to for a long time, but hearing her double say it, shot chills up her spine.  
At that moment, a note slid under the door.  
They both turned, staring at it for a moment.  
"Well?" her double began. "Things just got a lot more interesting."

{Zuko}

_Well, at least it can't get any worst.  
_Zuko walked out of his assembly hall after a long day of Fire Nation delegations. His efforts to restore balance to the world were being met by a usually positive outcome, but the pressure of ruling was beginning to weigh heavily on him. The tension was still thick in the Fire Nation Colonies, as Earth King Kuei demanded that Fire Nation Colonials return to the motherland and relinquish their lands back under Earth Kingdom dominion.  
Aang and the others had since gone their separate ways. Aang had left to re-explore the Air Temples for hidden knowledge, and anything he could use to help restore his people, and to give to the next generation of airbenders with Appa and Momo. Sokka and Katara temporarily headed back to the South Pole, to catch up with their family and help rebuild the struggling tribe, and last he heard, Toph was on a vacation with her mother in the Fire Nation. Suki left with the other Kyoshi Warriors and headed into the Earth Kingdom to help the rebuilding effort there, and he had not seen her since his coronation. Mai had stayed with him, reassuring him when things got tough, in her own way. His Uncle Iroh would occasionally visit, and send hawks regularly from his tea shop, The Jasmine Dragon, in Ba Sing Se, often with counseling and advice Zuko so craved.

Zuko was daydreaming when he felt the nudge.  
"Excuse me Firelord. A report from the Southern Earth Kingdom," The man said, holding out a scroll in his hand.  
Zuko unraveled the long scroll and began to read.  
"It appears the Southerners aren't too happy about having Fire Nation troops help in the rebuilding effort," said the man with a worried voice.  
Zuko was frustrated by the comment, more so than he should have been.  
"Oh course they're not happy to see them! Last time Fire Nation troops were there they burned down their homes!"  
The man recoiled, surprised by the young Firelord's tone. Zuko immediately realized he had snapped at the man, and felt guilt stab at his stomach.  
He sighed.  
"Excuse me. That was… Out of line… It's been a long day."  
The man didn't break his stride, but chose to keep walking away with a bow.  
"No, no. Excuse me Firelord. It wasn't my place," he said, retreating down the hall with continued bows.  
Zuko buried his face in his hands, rubbing them up and down.  
_It can't get any worst.  
_A messenger suddenly skidded around the corner.  
"Firelord Zuko! News from the Asylum, you're sister has escaped!"  
Zuko's stomach dropped through the floor, as his eyes widened with realization at what the man just said. He stood there for a moment, a thousand thoughts rushing into his mind. If Azula had escaped, he had a pretty clear idea where she would be going.  
"Firelord?" the messenger questioned.  
Zuko suddenly snapped back to his senses.  
"Inform the Western fleet to spread a search area from here to the Asylum! My sister can't be allowed to reach Fire Nation soil! Double the guard at the royal prison, and ready my ship to go to the Asylum, I need to pick up Azula's trail!"  
"Yes sir, anything else?" asked the messenger.  
Zuko closed his eyes, thinking for a moment. Before opening them after a critical decision.  
"Yes, send a hawk to the Four Air Temples. Track down the Avatar; we're going to need his help."

{Azula}

She walked over to the door, squatting to pick up the note. She unraveled it to find only a single sentence.

_"The answers you seek, are in Azzazle's room."_

Azula quickly got up, throwing open the door to check for the mysterious stranger, but the halls were empty.  
"My my. Seems like you've got a friend on board," her double said playfully.  
Azula thought for a second, before speaking out loud.  
"His cabin will most likely be on the top deck, next to the captain's or maybe the commander's cabin."  
Her double spoke again.  
"Shall we go pay him a visit?" She teased.  
Azula ignored her, and left the room without another word.

Azula moved quickly and quietly through the halls and up the stairs, until finally, she arrived undetected at the top of the accommodation deck. She instinctively moved towards the commander's cabin. She slowly gripped the door handle, and opened it as quietly as she could. She slipped in, in swiftly closed the door behind her. The room was smaller than she expected for the commander's cabin, her room being at least three meters longer and wider. A window had been installed on the far side of the room, letting the moonlight and the cool sea breeze flood the cabin. Under it, a bed, and in it, Azzazle lay sleeping. A lantern hung extinguished from the ceiling, on her left, a desk, and her right, a cupboard and dresser. She quietly crept around, opening everything as she went. The cupboard was filled with attire from all over the world, and many different disguises, everything from minstrel's gowns to Earth Kingdom battle amour. The draws to his dresser were all strangely empty, and his desk was equally as disappointing. Azula bit her lip. Besides his extensive wardrobe, nothing in the room was noteworthy, and nothing hinted at a possible destination for the vessel. Then, she saw a glint catch the light of the moon on a stool next to Azzazle's bed. Azula focused her eye's moving closer to it, finally realizing what it was.  
"A knife," said her double, suddenly reappearing and making her jump. "Oh Azula, it's just too perfect."  
Azula was standing right over Azzazle now, and the knife was only a half a meter away, close enough for one swift movement.  
"You can't trust him," her double sang in a playful tone. "Kill him and take command. He will only turn on you later."  
Azula stood there for a moment, her double's voice was so dominant in her mind.  
"Just grab the knife, and sink it in his heart. Come on, or he will do it to you."  
Azula slowly reached over to pick up the knife, only to realize her hand was shaking.  
_Why is this so difficult?  
_She slowly grabbed it, hands still shaking and raised it above her head. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, she could feel the sweet forming on her temple, as hot and cold flushes shot throughout her body.  
"Do it!" her double demanded.  
Azula's mind suddenly drifted back to that afternoon. His smile, catching her off guard, the way he didn't back down in the face of danger, the way he was kind to her, and not fearing her in the slightest. Something about him stuck to Azula's mind.  
She took a deep breath, lowering the knife down from over her head.  
_No, not yet. There is still something his not telling me. Not yet.  
_She slowly put the knife back on the stool, and sighed, before turning and walking to the door.  
"Good work Azula, you just passed the first test."  
The voice made her jump, and she turned to see Azzazle sitting upright in his bed.  
He shot a flicker of flame up to the lantern, igniting it, blessing the room with light.  
Azula stood there for a moment, embarrassed and strapped for words.  
"Wha- Yo- Test?" she shrieked.  
A smile crept on to Azzazle's face at the surprise he had caused her.  
"Yes," he said. "Come sit down Azula," he said patting the end of the bed. "I think it's time I told you why I brought you here."  
Azula remained standing, and folded her arms in frustration.  
_He sent the note, he set me up._  
"Or... You can stand up. Whatever makes you comfortable," he scoffed.  
"Enough games!" she snapped at him. "Get to the point before I realize I've made a mistake."  
Azzazle smiled again, closing his eyes with a nod.  
"Very well, this particular story starts two months after Sozin's Comet," he began, looking off into the distance as he recalled the memory.  
"At the time, I was making my way to Whale Tale Island on my catamaran, when I was awoken at night by a man in a white and blue cloaked hood, I had no idea how he reached me."  
"You were wearing a white and blue cloaked hood today at the Asylum," Azula interrupted.  
"Very perceptive. He gave one too me, telling me that I was "Selected to be watched," The man told me he was a master of the arts and philosophy, and a true seeker of knowledge in amongst the sea of lies. He traveled with me after that, musta been about seven months, and he taught me things… About the world, about people, and the true effects of the 100 year war. He told me about you, Princess Azula,"  
"Me? He just told you about me? Be more specific!"  
Azzazle ignored her and continued speaking.  
"He said that if I wished to save you, I had to save your mind so your heart could be free. He told me that if I retraced your steps, I could find those willing to help me… And willing to help you. He said the only way to cure your insanity was to rectify your rage with that of opposite emotions."  
Azula scoffed, so Azzazle could hear her.  
"That's ridiculous," she stated with confidence.  
"Not true, you just passed your first test against rage… You showed restraint."  
Azula suddenly zeroed in on him.  
"What if I hadn't? What was your back up plan then?" she accused.  
Azzazle shrugged off the question with a smile.  
"I didn't have one," he said casually.  
Azula's stomach flipped.  
"You fool! You could have been killed! Were you so sure you were right?"  
Azazzle blinked at her for a second.  
"I had full faith that you would pass, and if you didn't, I wouldn't be alive to admit I was wrong. It was a win-win," he said with a snicker.  
Azula's left eye twitched in agitation.  
_The fool was willing to bet his life on it._  
Azula took the opportunity to launch the question that had been nagging her.  
"Why you? Why me? What do you get out of all this? You said this afternoon that it was "good to see me again," but I've never met you before."  
Azzazle's eye's drifted off again.  
"Well, that's not entirely true. But another story for another time. Suffice to say, it's in my interest to protect you," his usual joking face suddenly turned serious, and he focused on her, making her feel slightly breathless as his eye's met hers.  
"Too the very end, if I must."  
Azula stood stupefied for a moment, before re-gaining her poise.  
"I don't need pro-"  
**BANG!  
**The ship lurched violently, but Azula planted her foot and managed to keep on her feet.  
Azzazle rolled out of bed before springing to his feet.  
"What the spirits was that?" he shouted.  
He sprinted to the door, grabbing Azula's hand on the way.  
"Come on!" he said, tugging her along.  
_Beats being carried._  
She shook her arm free of his grasp and together they made their way to the bridge.  
The helmsmen was looking dazed, and the captain was looking out the windows, trying to identify what had happened.  
"Captain Zhang! What's going on?" said Azzazle, demanding the answer in a powerful tone.  
Azula looked around but couldn't see any other ships out any windows.  
"Is it the Fire Nation? Have they intercepted us already?" questioned Azzazle.  
"No! It's not the Fire Nation! But we've lost forward propulsion! We're no longer underway!"  
At that moment, a wave washed up on the bow of the ship, and on it, a single man.  
Azula saw Azzazle tense up immediately.  
"No," she heard him say to himself. "Not now, not here. How? How did you track me all this way?"  
The man stared up at the bridge, and Azzazle stared down at the man, and Azula sensed the bitter history in the intense exchange of the almost unbearable leer.  
Azzazle spoke again, so quietly Azula almost didn't hear.

"Kortaka."

dignity


	3. Chapter 3: The man known as Kortaka

_**Hey! I noticed some of the other authors doing this and thought, "Hey, that's not a bad idea!"  
So here I am.  
Hope you guys like the story so far. I'm aiming for about 10 chapters, so settle in.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. Support the official release, cause it's badass.**_

{Azula}

Her hair was standing on end. She could feel the battle atmosphere beginning to set into the air.  
Azzazle's clenched fists and grinding teeth told her that he had a bitter history with this lone waterbender.

"Captain Zhang, wake the crew, Kortaka can't of stopped this ship alone, I'd say his here with other waterbenders who've immobilized the ship, we cannot allow this vessel to be damaged so deep in Fire Nation waters!"

"Agreed," said the captain with a nod. Azzazle suddenly turned to Azula.  
"Take the princess here back to her room; I want two imperial firebenders at her door until the crisis is averted."

They all began to disperse, and the captain announced the attack on loudspeaker whilst ringing the alarm. Azula watched Azzazle begin to descend the stairs, but he paused midway and turned around.  
"Oh, and Kortaka is mine, no-one is to interfere!"  
"Of course!" the captain yelled back at him. "Azula! Follow me!" he said, taking off down the stairs.  
Azula hesitantly let her legs carry her after Zhang.  
_I won't be going back to my room just yet.  
_They were almost back at her room, Azzazle taking a quick path to the deck. She slowed down so that she could create a blind spot between her and the captain as they turned down the halls. When he turned the last corner, she had enough space to dart down a different corridor without him noticing.  
She headed towards the deck, determined to see how Azzazle would handle a waterbender at night.

{Azzazle}

He took a deep breath. He knew Kortaka was only here for him, but if he found out she was on board, the consequences would be more than he could bear.  
He grabbed the accommodation door wheel, and took a deep breath before turning it open.

He stepped out on deck, and Kortaka was still standing there waiting for him. The waterbender was much older than him, around his thirty's Azzazle guessed. He was physically strong, well-toned muscles under his wolf pelt robes, but no helmet to obscure his vision. He had strong cheek bones, and a face lacking any cheerful expression. His black hair was accompanied by two sets of locks on either side of his face, as his long overgrown warrior's wolf tail flickered in the wind, and his blue eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, grimaced back at him.

Azzazle took another deep breath before speaking.  
"Kortaka," he said, his voice fading slightly. "Your skills at tracking me are legendary."  
Kortaka stared back at him, his eyes filled with hatred. Azzazle knew that Kortaka wanted to hurt him, but it was more than that. Kortaka wanted him to suffer, wanted him to truly suffer, as he had.  
"Your skills at running away are equally legendary, murderer," he replied, his fists clenching.  
Azzazle sighed, a fight was inevitable. He had tried to negotiate before, but Kortaka wouldn't listen to reason.  
"When will you stop? When I'm dead? Will that make you a happy man?" Azzazle said, his voice trembling.  
Kortaka slowly shook his head.  
"The day I stop hunting you, will be the day the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east. It will be the day were the ocean tips over the walls of Ba Sing Se, and the world ends in ice on the day of Sozin's comet. It will be the day the South Pole meets the North Pole, and the spirits sing hallowed songs of the demise of men. There is nowhere you can run, nowhere you can hide, where I won't find you. You will spend every day of the rest of your life looking over your shoulder to make sure that I am not there, watching you, waiting until the sun goes down, to come for you. Death is your only escape from my wrath."

Chills shot up Azzazle's spine, as his body became riddled with goosebumps. He knew that Kortaka would keep his word, but despite this. He couldn't bring himself to kill him, because, in a way, he had created this monster.  
Azzazle raised his hands into a battle position, an advanced style of firebending.  
"One night, Kortaka, you may have my blood, but not tonight."  
Kortaka immediately reacted, throwing multiple water whips at Azzazle from the puddles on deck. He clenched his teeth, diving out of the way just in time, as the whips turned to icy knifes and struck where he was standing. He retaliated with a fire blast aimed at Kortaka's legs, but the waterbender was fast and powerful, and created a pillar of ice underneath him, lifting him off the deck some 10 feet in the air. He began bending a barrage of waves trying to pin Azzazle down. He gasped, as he tried to fend off a freezing wave that had connected him, and hardened into ice, trapping his hands against his chest. He quickly responded, exhaling hot air from his nose, melting the ice to free his hands. Kortaka was charging at him now, but Azzazle blasted himself free of the ice, and rolled to the starboard side, dodging an ice spear that would have pierced his heart a second earlier.  
He had burned himself in the process, but he was alive, and Kortaka wasn't near done. Kortaka turned, and slashed at him with two horizontal ice knifes, one at his feet, and one at his head. Azzazle jumped, ending up just between the two, and watched as the top ice blade glided inches above his eyes. He extended his legs, firing a concentrated blast at the waterbender while he was off guard, but he blocked it with another ice pillar, which he quickly converted into a wave of slashing ice as Azzazle hit the deck. He rolled away again, and rolled backwards, flipping himself back onto his legs to give himself some space from the deadly waterbender.  
Kortaka, attacked again, roaring as he charged towards him.  
Azzazle clenched his fists and pulled them side by side to his stomach, to give him more balance. He proceeded to unleash a volley of fire balls at him with his legs. The waterbender was incredibly agile; he created a series of ice walls and slid across them avoiding all the blasts, only blocking one or two fireballs with waterbending when he absolutely had to. Azzazle jumped, launching one more in the intended path of Kortaka's ice wall, but Kortaka had read the attack and had dismounted half way through, and launched a straight stream of ice directly at him. Azzazle's feet met the deck again, but he wasn't quick enough to avoid the blow as it cut into his right shoulder. He clutched it whilst withdrawing, closing his right eye in pain. Kortaka began waving his hands, as a wave formed behind him, and began washing onto the deck.  
"You can't defeat me! Not like this! Not with the full moon tomorrow night!" Kortaka yelled, in an almost insane ecstasy of power.  
Azzazle didn't like it, but Kortaka was right.  
_I have to think of another way. I need to avoid his bending.  
_Kortaka suddenly directed his hands at Azzazle, as the wave on deck charged towards him.  
Azzazle quickly hatched a plan. He launched himself with his firebending into the air like a rocket, avoiding the wave and bringing a pillar of fire down onto Kortaka with the flame from his legs. The waterbender sheltered himself with a umbrella of water. Azzazle landed, rolling forward and launching a powerful fire ball at him. The waterbender quickly pulled the water in front of him, as the fire connected it a spilt second later. The fireball combusted with huge force as the elements met, creating a thick steam. He broke off his attack and charged to the side, masking himself in the mist, and running at Kortaka's last position. Kortaka bended the steam into a ball of water above him, but Azzazle was now close enough to attack him. Kortaka's eyes lit up in surprise as Azzazle appeared in front of him out of the fog. Azzazle slid on the deck, as Kortaka converted the ball of water above him into ice shards which he brought down on him, but Azzazle was quick, and had slid through Kortaka's legs, and sprung to his feet behind him.  
_I've never done this on a human in a fight before… I hope this works.  
_Kortaka spun around, but Azzazle side stepped him, and began his attack. He hit Kortaka in several places, making his limbs go limp and his bending seize up. Kortaka swung his free arm around, and pulled it towards Azzazle. The puddle at Azzazle's feet rippled, but nothing happened.  
"What did you do to me?" he shrieked, his anger, wild and uncontrolled at his sudden inability to bend. Azzazle ignored him, and leaped forward, connecting him in the face with his fist. Kortaka staggered back against the gunnel, clutching his face in surprise, and Azzazle jumped up, making contact with both legs on his chest, launching him over the side of the ship and into the water below. The ship suddenly lurched, as it began to steam again. Azzazle rushed over to the gunnel, looking back at Kortaka being helped onto a small water tribe ship. Kortaka met his eyes as he was being pulled aboard, but Azzazle was clever enough to slow him down. He fired two concentrated fire balls at the mast of the ship, burning two sizeable holes in the sail before the waterbenders put it out.  
He exhaled, falling back onto the deck, his heart beating so loud he could barely hear his breathing. He was amazed to see what a beautiful night it actually was. The stars were twinkling, as he watched one shoot across the sky, and the moon was nearing full in the distance.  
"Well, you can handle yourself can't you?" her voice asked, making him turn towards her.  
"Where did you learn to block Chi?"

{Azula}

She was amazed that the firebender was able to best the waterbender in such a hostile environment.  
She strutted on over to where Azzazle was laying, just as Zhang appeared behind her.  
"Sorry Azzazle, she slipped away from me," he said apologetically.  
Azzazle was still panting, and responded with a nod.  
"A little trick I picked up from my teacher," he said. Azula raised her eyebrow.  
"Ahh, the mysterious blue and white hooded man," she recalled.  
Azzazle smiled, and looked up at her face.  
"What did you think of my firebending?" he asked sincerely.  
She scoffed.  
"Average," she lied with a smile.  
_His skills easily surpass advanced firebenders.  
_"However," she continued, seeing Azzazle's attempt to mask his disappointment under a snicker.  
"I'm curious to find out who taught you, your form is… different," she said, as a description for his form failed her.  
Azzazle grunted, slowly pushing himself to his feet.  
"I had many teachers," he summarized.  
Azula looked at his right arm, and noticed a stream of blood running down from his shoulder and dripping on the deck.  
"You're bleeding," she added with a pointed finger.  
"Oh? Oh! That!" he said, looking at the cut on his shoulder. "That's nothing, but I think I will need to run these burns under some water," he said, gesturing to his knees, which Azula had seen him burn as he blasted himself free from the ice.  
"You burned yourself? That's sloppy," she said folding her arms.  
"Perhaps you should show me some of your firebending then?" he said, walking past her and heading to the accommodation deck. Her stomach jolted at the insult, but she found herself with a silly grin on her face.  
"Maybe I will."

Azula walked into the medical room to see the cook stitching Azzazle's cut. He greeted her with a wink, and she slowly sat on a chair opposite the room.  
"So, are you going to tell me who the waterbender was? And why his trying to kill you?"  
The look on Azzazle's face changed into a guilty frown.  
"No. Let's just say that I wronged him, the less you know about Kortaka, the better. His apart of my bitter history, not yours."  
Azula ignored the statement.  
"It must have been something truly terrible for him to pursue you so tenaciously ."  
Azzazle closed his eyes, regret plaguing his face. Azula felt a sudden empty feeling in her chest.  
_Is this… Am I feeling sorry for him?  
_"This isn't about me," he said, raising his head and looking at her. "This is about helping you,"  
he said with a smile.  
She smirked.  
"We'll see. The moment this ship reaches land, I'm leaving."  
Azzazle shook his head.  
"Oh really? And go where? To the royal palace and challenge your brother to an Agni Kai? How will you get to the Fire Nation? Via ship? With what coin? You don't think people won't recognize the princess of the Fire Nation and turn you in?"  
"Am I so much safer here with you?" she debated with a sly smile.  
"You are! I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you don't exactly have the resources that were available to you eighteen months ago!  
Azula opened her mouth to argue, but no words reached her.  
"That's what I thought," he said, standing up as the cook finished his stitching. As he stood, his robe fell to the ground, and Azula's eye's widened to see that he had several scars and burn marks all over his body. She began to study them all, when Azzazle interrupted.  
"It's rude to stare," he said jokingly.  
She snapped back to reality, feeling her face heat up.  
"No! I- It's just! You look like a chopping board," she said jabbing the insult at him to cover her embarrassment.  
To her surprise, Azzazle laughed at the comment.  
"After this many run-ins with Kortaka, I feel like one."  
She smiled at his ability to take her insult.  
"All of these scars are from the waterbender?" she asked inquisitorially.  
"Not all of them. The burns are mostly my fault, but all these cuts are his handiwork," he said pointing at the three most noticeable scars.  
"This one was the first time Kortaka came after me," he said, pointing to a horizontal scar that reached from his front to his back on the left side.  
"I tried to jump out of the way, if I stood still, he'd probably have cut me in half."  
She grinned.  
"That's only a scratch," she said.  
Azzazle smiled back at her.  
"Compared to this one, it was," he said, pointing to the one adjacent to his heart.  
"He jumped me when I was sleeping overnight at a hot springs. He wanted to cut off my head, but I woke and palmed off his attack, and Zhang was in the next room so he cleared off fast when he failed."  
Azula raised her eyebrow.  
"Didn't stop him from attacking you on a ship full of your allies," she added.  
Azzazle pointed at the next scar on his abdomen, which was diagonal across his six pack.  
"This one was after an extended battle with some pirates. He attacked me while I was resting after my escape. I burnt one of his legs pretty bad and managed to get away. That was the only time he attacked me during the day."  
Azula nodded in approval.  
"So his far from stupid, I understand, he attacks you when you are at your weakest. What about the one above your eye?"  
Azzazle ran his finger over the long cut, which was the size of his eyebrow. He closed his eyes before speaking.  
"This was the first physical scar Kortaka gave me," he said, slowly stroking it with his finger back and forward.  
"Physical?" she echoed.  
Azzazle walked towards the door, before stopping and turning towards her.  
"Get some rest Azula. It's going to be a long journey."

_One week later…_

{Zuko}

He stepped off the docker and onto the wharf of the Asylum Island. He could see the Warden being escorted to the wharf by two guards. He had not told them that he would be arriving so soon.  
Zuko had chosen to go onto the Island alone, but his adviser, who had joined him on the dock, suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.  
"Excuse me Firelord. The Avatar has returned your message, and he will meet you at the palace with his former companions as you instructed. He should only be two weeks off the Fire Nation."  
Zuko nodded.  
"Very good," he said, containing his excitement to see the group again.  
The Warden walked up to him, and along with his guards, fell into a deep bow.  
"Welcome Firelord. We did not expect your arrival for another week," he said, with an obvious nervous chuckle.  
Zuko returned a slight bow.  
"My apologies, but time is of the essence if we want to pick up Azula's trail."  
"Of course Firelord," he said with a gesture. "Shall we walk?"  
Zuko nodded again as the made their way up the dock.  
"I want to see the room my sister was in, I want to speak to the guards and orderly's who had contact with her before her escape, and I want you to fill me in on any details they leave out."  
"O-of course!" said The Warden. "We… Uhh… Know your sister didn't escape on her own; she had an accomplice from the outside. A firebender, at that, possibly with the assistance of an earthbender."  
Zuko stopped in his tracks, as his stomach jolted.  
"An earthbender?"  
"Yes Firelord. They escaped out of a tunnel which was dugout down the hall from your sister's cell. We hypothesized that it must have been dugout over time, when the guards were changing shifts, so no-one would notice the noise. Then the firebender blasted through on the day of the escape and went in alone."  
The Warden continued to re-tell the story as they ascended up the mountain. They entered the Asylum, and began they're rounds through the wards. Zuko was shocked at the state of the facility. The rooms were dark, cramped, and usually lacking sunlight. The patients were huddled in corners, whispering and muttering to themselves. He could hear laughing far off down the hallway, which turned into an insane crackling scream.  
Zuko stopped, turning on the Warden, his anger slowly rising.  
"Take me to the room where you kept my sister," he said sternly, piercing the Warden with his glare.  
"O-Of course Firelord! Whatever you wish," he said with a stutter.  
They began descending into the mountain until they reached a small row of rooms.  
"This is the D Ward Firelord Zuko. We keep our most dangerous prisoners here."  
Zuko turned on the Warden, his anger had reached boiling point.  
"Patients."  
"Excuse me Firelord?"  
"Patients! These people aren't prisoners! They're sick! And these conditions you're subjecting them to… They're terrible! Worst then The Boiling Rock and the Royal Prison put together!"  
The Warden trembled, and Zuko had just realized that he had advanced on him so far that the Warden's back was against the wall.  
"F-forgive me Firelord! But funding is so low! All the Fire Nation's taxes are sent to the re-building effort in the Earth Kingdom!"  
Zuko's eyes widened as a terrible realization had struck him.  
_Am I turning a blind eye to the suffering of my own people?  
_He backed off the Warden, seeing the genuine fear riddling his face.  
"Just! … Just take me to my sister's room," he said, proceeding down the hallway with a sigh.  
"O-o-of course Firelord! Your sister's cell was the last room at the end to your left! I will go retrieve her orderly and the guard on duty right away!"  
Zuko proceed to the room until he was standing in front of the metal door. He took a breath, grabbing the handle and opening it with a creak.  
The room was dark, and extremely unremarkable. The walls were jagged stones, and the only accessory was a bed suspended off the ground by rotting wood to his right. He walked in, he could imagine Azula in here losing her mind, and the thought sickened him. He walked up to the back wall, to see that there were sizeable holes in the stone. He ran his hand across them, looking down at the floor.  
_Chains use to be here.  
_He could hear a drip far off down the hallway, and with it, the sounds of footsteps nearing.  
They reached the door, but Zuko didn't turn. He began speaking softly to himself.  
"I guess it's no secret I don't hold much love for my sister. But this… I wouldn't wish this on her… I wouldn't wish this on anyone."  
"No Firelord," agreed a voice behind him, but Zuko ignored it.  
"After I finish my inspection, I'm shutting this Asylum down, and re-building one outside that will be better suited to help the mentally sick, and…" he said turning to face the Warden, who was accompanied by a guard and an orderly.  
"And if I so much as hear a rumor of this kind of cruelty again," he growled.  
"I will have you all banished."  
They all shuffled uncomfortably, as Zuko slowly let his anger die.  
"These uhh… These are the two men who were present for your sister's escape."  
The guard and orderly stepped forward with a bow.  
They began to re-tell the story, and Zuko simply stood there, studying them with golden eyes, nodding occasionally and listening to every word they said.  
"Then he shot a ring of fire at as, and proceeded to escape on a Explorer Class Fire Nation ship. Our ships were docked on the opposite side of the island, and by the time we prepared them, they were long gone," said the guard, finishing his tale.  
Zuko nodded one final time.  
_Who would do this?  
_"Is there anything more you can tell me about the infiltrator? Did you see his face?"  
The guard shrugged, scratching his head.  
"Uhh, no Firelord. He was a firebender, he was fast and smart enough to infiltrate the Asylum and make a quick getaway, and he was wearing a white and blue hooded cloak, and that's about it."  
Zuko suddenly jolted at the last description.  
"What? A white and blue cloak? Are you sure? A navy blue? With a white collar?"  
"Uhh, yes. Yes Firelord… How did you know?"  
Zuko couldn't believe it. He stood stunned for a moment, as the picture of the cloak became clear in his head.  
"I've seen those colours before… On the day of Sozin's comet," he said, his fear being realized.

"The Order of the White Lotus."


	4. Chapter 4: A worthy distraction

_**Hey guys. Made an interesting discovery today, I've spelt Azzazle two different ways throughout the chapters. Whoops. So to settle confusion, we'll stick with "Azzazle" (az-zay-zul)  
That's very embarrassing as a writer to constantly misspell your own character's name… Very sloppy. Anyway gang, here it comes, chapter four.**_

{Azula}

"You were screaming in your sleep last night," he said, looking over at her from his bowl of rice.  
She carried on eating, un-phased by the comment.  
"Unless you don't want to be screaming right now, I suggest you don't mention that again," she said coldly.  
Azzazle put his chopsticks down with a thud.  
"Are you threatening me? … Or bribing me?" he said with a sly smile.  
She raised her eyebrow. She was genuinely confused by the comment.  
"Of course it was a threat, what are you, a fool?"  
Azzazle chuckled.  
"Wow, you're terrible at this," he said getting up and taking his bowl to the galley, shaking his head as he went.  
"Terrible at what?" she called after him, her frustration at the line growing out of proportion.

It had been three weeks travelling with Azzazle and his crew. She had taken to eating in the mess room with the rest of the crew, denying Azzazle's invitation to eat alone in her cabin.  
Her time with him was difficult for her to comprehend. She had been trying to understand Azzazle's role, and his intention, by engaging him in dialogue. She would try to extract information from him in her usual ways, but Azzazle's shell was difficult to crack. Her insults didn't affect him, and any sass she threw his way he would bounce right back, not caring about the consequences. Every time she got close to talking to him about his true goals, he would divert the conversation with humor. Although he didn't seem like it, Azula knew Azzazle could read her game. He had divulged just enough information to keep her around, and not enough information for her to use against him. She was in a mental stalemate in this battle. The only headway she had made was his firebending. Every time she insulted or poked fun at that, he would become slightly upset. Something about his firebending was different, but more than that, it was important to him in some way more than just a style of combat. Azula made a mental note of this.

"I'm heading to the bridge," he said, reappearing behind her. "Get ready, tomorrow, we're walking."  
"Where?" she asked him as he walked off.  
"Secret!" he called back.  
She hated the fact that here, she had no control, no power. It was a floating version of a prison, but in her eyes, a huge step up from the Asylum. She shuttered at the memory of that place. But still, even now, hallucinations haunted her.  
She returned to her cabin after dinner, refusing to help clean up.  
_I am above them._  
She lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Without a goal insight for the last year and a half, she had constantly let her thoughts drift. For the time being, she would attempt these tests Azzazle had offered her, in a hope it would return her firebending, which was still unachievable since after her defeat at the Royal Palace.  
Her mind quickly became tired, as fatigue set in, and her thoughts descended into darkness.

"No lightning today? What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?"  
She was standing in a place that seemed familiar. The sky was a blood red, and meters away, stood her brother, Zuko.  
"Oh! I'll show you _**lightning!**_"  
She looked down the courtyard. She remembered now. She saw herself, hair dangling in front of her like a lunatic. She watched as her double began to create lightning around her body, whipping and cracking as the positive and negative jin separated. She looked up. The clouds were shifting, moving into a giant cloud which formed a face. Her father's.  
It was smiling; eye's wide as it looked down on her. It was huge, and Azula suddenly felt so insignificant, dwarfed by the dominating figure bearing down on her. She looked back down, and gasped to see it wasn't her wielding lightning anymore, but the peasant Katara. Her eye's where wild, and instead of firing the bolt at Zuko, she had fired the bolt at Azula, whipping wildly out of control as it rushed towards her. A figure suddenly dived out in front of her, taking the full force of the lightning. The figure skidded across the ground, coming to a halt face down at Azula's feet.  
She bent down, rolling over the smoking character, and let out a long piercing scream to her own, eyeless face, looking up at her. Her father's laughter rang all around her, as the ground began to swallow her.  
"Azula! Azula! Wake up! – Ow!"  
She punched the figure square in the nose, feeling it break under her knuckles as it reeled back.  
She looked around wildly. She was wet, her bed soaked in sweat, her chest rapidly rising and falling.  
She realized were she was, on Azzazle's ship. She looked over to see Azzazle was the figure she had punched. He slowly raised to his feet, clutching his bleeding nose.  
"What are you doing? What's going on?" she yelled franticly, planting her hand on either side of the bed as her eyes darted wildly.  
Azzazle walked back over, sitting on the end of her bed, far away from her this time.  
"You were screaming again, you sounded like you were in trouble so I came down here to see if you were ok," he hummed, holding his dripping nose.  
She slowly began to calm down.  
"I broke your nose," she stated with shock.  
Azzazle scoffed.  
"Yeah… Yeah I know. I was basically on top of you. Not my smartest idea," he said, clutching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.  
"You should leave; you're bleeding on the carpet," she said to cover her embarrassment.  
He chuckled, which was hampered by his broken nose.  
"Sure, the pleasure was all mine," he said, leaving the end of her bed, and walking out the door. As he closed the door behind him, she felt the mood of room shift into an empty void.

{Zuko}

He walked into the assembly hall, and his heart soared as he saw their obvious clothes.  
Toph was the first to react.  
"His here!" she said, pointing her finger at him.  
There was a slight cheer, as they all rushed over to greet him.  
"Zuko!" Katara had thrown herself on him in an embrace he didn't expect. He blinked, first too shocked to react, then began to hold her close. He had missed her. They broke their hug, and Zuko finally got a good look at her. She had hardly changed. She had kept her long brown hair down, and her blue eyes were still soft and kind. A year had done well for her body. She had grown in places Zuko tried not to look, and her hips curved noticeably under her blue robes.  
"There's my favorite Firelord!" said Sokka with a huge grin on his face. They grabbed each other's arms in a traditional Water Tribe greeting. Zuko was shocked to see that Sokka had actually filled out noticeably in peace time. He now had well-toned muscles, and had kept his hair long on all sides.  
The moment he had broken his grip from Sokka, he had been punched hard on the arm.  
"Good to see you again! Well, feel you again," she chuckled.  
Toph had changed the most. Her body had grown up and out into a more womanly figure, but she had still retained hard muscles from practicing earthbending. She had also fashioned a long plat of hair as opposed to her buns, and wore her bangs with green bands around them both.  
He turned to the young Avatar.  
"Avatar Aang," he said with a bow.  
Aang smiled, clearly amused by the pleasantry.  
"Firelord Zuko," he said, returning the bow. They both looked up, and began to chuckle with laughter as they moved in and hugged each other.  
"It's so good to see you all! I only wish it were under better circumstances," said Zuko, trailing off.  
"I'm hungry," interrupted Sokka. Katara sighed, resting her forehead on her fingers.  
"You've been here five minutes and all you want is food?"  
Zuko smiled shaking his head.  
"No, his right, let's go to the dining room shall we?" he said gesturing the party along.  
They proceeded to the dining hall, reminiscing and laughing as they went along. Zuko simply walked along with a smile on his face. It was refreshing to hear them laugh, he had not heard laughter often since his time as Firelord, but his guilt began to set in, he would have to break this happy mood sooner or later to tell them that Azula was back amongst the people.

They sat with Zuko at the head of the table, Aang and Katara side by side, and Sokka sitting next to Toph. They continued to talk about their past adventures over dinner, which included several of the finest dishes in the Fire Nation.  
"Royal food!" Sokka drooled, his eye's widening at all the food trays, shortly before stuffing his face.  
Zuko's mind began to drift elsewhere. The longer they sat around, the colder Azula's trail would get.  
"So of course Zuko picks up the glowing egg, and then… Zuko, are you ok?" Aang said mid-sentence.  
Zuko came back to reality.  
"Look, I guess it's no secret why I called you here…" he began.  
The light mood at the table died almost immediately, and Zuko's heart sank through the floor.  
"Azula," said Katara, her eyes focusing as if she could see her across the table.  
"Yes…," Zuko began.  
He continued to regal them with the information the Warden had given him.  
"Blue and white? Why does that sound familiar?" said Sokka, rubbing his chin.  
"That's because you've seen it before. It's the colours of the Order of the White Lotus."  
The table let out a shocked silence, until Sokka spoke up.  
"Who would benefit from freeing someone like Azula from a mental hospital?"  
Everyone looked back at Zuko, expecting him to have the answer.  
"I already thought of that. I sent a hawk to my uncle to find out who in the order would do this."  
Aang was looking over at him, a concerned look on his face.  
"Zuko, something else is bothering you," he said.  
They all turned and looked at him again. He sighed.  
"I can't come with you."  
All four of them burst out their frustration at this news all at once.  
"What? Why not?" questioned Aang.  
"I'm Firelord now. I can't just up and leave on some adventure anymore. The situation in the Earth Kingdom colonies is too serious right now."  
Sokka stood up, pushing his chair back casually.  
"Well, it's probably for the best. Who knows how Azula would react to seeing you after you defeated her on the day of Sozin's Comet?"  
Zuko nodded, before a thought struck him.  
"Well then, maybe Katara should stay too!"  
Aang sprung up with a must less subtle leap then Sokka's.  
"Woah Woah Woah! Let's just slow down for a second. We just got everyone back together, and now we're gunna separate?" he said, his grey eyes pleading.  
"Aang, the longer we wait, the colder Azula's trail gets, and I think Zuko has the right idea," Sokka stated with a nod an approving nod.  
"But how are we even gunna find her?" argued Aang, his frustration at being separated from Katara evident in his face. At that point, Toph raised her hand.  
"Uhh, hello? We can just smell her out with June's… Mole thing…" she said, waving her hand as she tried to remember the name of the creature.  
"Hey yeah!" said Katara, her eye's lighting up. "If we find June, we can find Azula!"  
"So it's settled. Katara and I will stay here in the Fire Nation. You guys search June's local taverns, locate Azula, then bring her back here to face justice," Zuko said, summarizing the discussion.  
"Yeah, I doubt the guy who helped her escape is just going to hand Azula over," said Sokka, putting his hands on his hips as he spoke.  
"Well whoever these guys are, I'm sure the Avatar can handle them," he said, looking at Aang with a smile. The smile wasn't returned, and Zuko felt a tingling in his stomach. He had let Aang down by volunteering Katara to stay with him.  
"Great! We'll set out in the morning. Hopefully we can get this done quickly so we can go on vacation," said Sokka with an ear to ear smile.  
Aang stormed off, with Katara and Toph in tow, but Sokka made his way around the table, appearing next to Zuko.  
"Okay, they're gone, are you gunna tell me what's really bothering you?"  
Zuko froze. Had he given off such strong vibes that even Sokka would notice?  
"It's the Earth Kingdom colonies," said Zuko with a sigh.  
"What about em'?"  
"Aang's the Avatar,"  
"Well spotted, what's your point?"  
"If I can't resolve this issue with the Earth King, Aang will have to step in."  
Sokka's eyes widened.  
"That's why you're sending him after Azula, isn't it? The situation is far worst then you've let on."  
Zuko couldn't believe it. Sokka had figured him out. There was no point lying to him now. He sighed resting his forehead on his thumb and index finger.  
"The Earth King stated that he would march on Fire Nation colonies if I don't relinquish their lands, but I'm close to reaching an agreement, I just need more time!"  
"And? What if you fail? You could re-ignite the war!" Said Sokka, becoming frantic at the true state of the situation.  
"Then Aang will step in and force a compromise, but this will work, trust me, but I need you to buy me some time when you're hunting Azula. Please Sokka."  
Sokka frowned at him. Zuko could tell that by discovering the truth, he had put him in an extremely awkward situation.  
"Ok, you have my support, but whatever you're doing Zuko, it better work, don't make me regret this,"  
he said, turning away and following the rest out the door.

{Azula}

Azula walked out of her room to see Azzazle walking down the hallway.  
"Ahh Azula! I was just coming to wake you. We've set everything up and we're ready to leave. It's going to be a fair walk to Ba Sing Se."  
Azula walked up beside him and together they made their way to the deck.  
"And what will we find in Ba Sing Se? She questioned.  
"Ba Sing Se was the scene of your greatest military triumph. When we get there, I want to show you something's my master taught me."  
She rolled her eyes. She almost couldn't believe she was being dragged back to the Earth Kingdom capital.  
They reached the deck, and Azula was surprised to see a group of the crew, waiting for them.  
"This is the shore party," said Azzazle responding to the look on Azula's face. "There is a chance Kortaka might come after me as far as Ba Sing Se, so I figured we'd need a fairly skilled party to deter him."  
Zhang walked up and greeted them with a nod.  
"Your backpack and bedroll, he said, extending them both out to Azula.  
She looked at them for a moment, as he continued to hold it out.  
"And? Who's going to carry it for me?"  
Zhang and Azzazle shot each other a sideway glance, before both looking back at her.  
"You can't expect me to carry this like some peasant?" she protested.  
Zhang dropped her stuff on the deck with a thud.  
"Then I hope you like sleeping in the dirt," he said before turning and joining the rest of the team.  
She bit her lip. They weren't kidding. She would have to carry her own weight.  
"Come on Azula," said Azzazle, resting a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off, picking up her backpack and bed roll, and hoisted it on her back.  
"Let's go meet the shore party," said Azzazle, stepping forward and waving her over to the group.  
Including the captain, herself, and Azzazle, there were six in the group.  
She walked up to a huge bulky man with a large platted beard and a huge mustache. He wore heavy amour with no insignia, but Azula recognized the design as outdated Fire Nation attire. His face wrinkled from the sun, and his brown eyes, telling of many battles.  
"You look familiar," she said, staring at the man. He gave her a slight bow.  
"Kahchi, Princess. I served under Coronel Monkge in the Rough Rhinos," he said, his voice deep and booming. Azula remembered the Rough Rhinos well. Stories of their victories were told to her as a child, stories of a group of powerful and relentless elite soldiers.  
"I see," she said, turning to the next man.  
He was a younger man, maybe his mid twenty's. He had a long platted pony tail and rugged goatee, his green eyes he tried to remain hidden under a wide brimmed hat. His clothes told it all, as Azula identified the man as a Dai Li agent.  
"You look familiar too," she said, acting as if she hadn't figured it out.  
The man looked up at her.  
"I'm not surprised you don't remember me… You never did take the time to know your most faithful attendants. My name is Jian. I was one of your personal guards on the Day of Black Sun."  
Azula remembered him now. He was elected along with another as the finest of Dai Li operatives.  
She moved along to the last person she hadn't met. It was a woman with black tights and a bow slung over her shoulder. Above her tights were blood red metal guards on both of her wrists, with a typical leather brace on her bow arm. She wore a purple lipstick, which complimented her face, which was marked by a large black tattoo that resembled a bat, and her long black hair hung down perfectly cut, balanced along her chin. Behind it, brown eyes were fixated on Azula's.  
"A Yuyan Archer," Azula said before the woman could speak. "I thought you disbanded after your defeat alongside Zhao at the North Pole."  
The young woman slung a belt on with a large silver buckle, turned her nose up, and walked away.  
"Sayuri," said Azzazle over her shoulder, as they watched her disembark the ramp.  
"You shouldn't mention the North Pole to her, a lot of her comrades died in that attack."  
She heard a snuffling grunt behind her, and saw a wolf-bat sniffing the decks.  
"What is that pest doing on board?" she questioned, pointing at the creature.  
The creature whimpered, as if it understood her statement.  
"Who, Chibi?" said Azzazle, walking over to the animal, bending down scratching his head playfully. The wolf-bat dropped on its back, earning a stomach scratch by Azzazle, who was now speaking in a childish tone.  
"Aww, my little Chibi, who's a good boy? You're a good boy! Yes! You!"  
The creature exhaled in a noise Azula could only describe as pure pleasure. It stretched out its front legs, revealing its wings, its red eyes closed happily.  
Azula raised her eyebrow, and shot a glance at Zhang, who was mirroring her looking down at the two.  
Azzazle stopped and rose to his feet, addressing the entire party minus Sayuri.  
"Ok. You've all gone over our attack and defense formations?" he said, focusing mainly on Zhang as he spoke.  
"We've practiced and practiced again, we all know our jobs if something goes wrong," Zhang replied, slinging dual swords over his shoulder.  
"Right, Sayuri will scout ahead as planned, Kahchi will be center, and Jian will be forward defense, Zhang and I will be the rear guard and direct attack if there is trouble."  
Azula looked around, as the group began to mobilize.  
"Well? What do I do?" she questioned Azzazle as he donned his equipment.  
"You, Azula, will not leave Kahchi's side for the entire length of today's march," he said, pointing her to in Kahchi's direction. Kahchi smiled, before grabbing her and yanking her to his side.  
"Come on Azula! I'll tell you a few of my better war stories!"  
Azula looked back at Azzazle, who was walking beside Zhang, as Kahchi lead her with an arm around her shoulder, displease evident on her face.  
_You've got to be kidding me.  
_"I'll pass," she said, sliding out from underneath him. Kahchi had seemed to ignore her.  
"Back in the early days, women weren't allowed in the military! You only had your brothers out there! And for days…" Kahchi continued to rabble on, as Azula walked down the ramp, setting her feet on free land for the first time in eighteen months. She breathed a sigh oh relieve, but she couldn't shake a nasty hunch. Her troubles, were just beginning.


	5. Chapter 5: The Journey

_**Hey gang. I've been asked a few questions about Azzazle's past, mostly focusing on his prior meeting with Azula. Chill out, all will be answered. I had to create some mysteries to keep you reading after all! :P Chapter five, let's get it on.**_

{Sokka}

"What do you mean June's not here!? She's always here!" he said, making his frustration evident at the barkeep in the festering Earth Kingdom tavern.  
"Look pal, June's a busy woman. You think she makes all her money sitting at a stool in places like this? No! She's a bounty hunter! She's probably out there tracking down some war mongers or thieves and whatnot," he said, waving his right hand around while he scrubbed down the bar with the other.  
Aang rested his hand on Sokka's shoulder.  
"Sokka, this is the last tavern, which probably means June is out in the field somewhere."  
Toph was standing behind them both, arms folded.  
"So we need to find June to find Azula, but we don't know where June is anyway? Great…" she joked.  
Sokka turned on her.  
"Hey, this was _**your**_ idea," he said, pointing at her with an accusing finger. She swatted it away, almost as if she could see it.  
"Yeah, but what other choice was there?" she said shrugging. "Do we just head in "that direction" until we find Azula?" she said, pointing to her finger in an aimless direction.  
Sokka thought for a second, reflecting on what Azula might do.  
"My instincts tell me she would head to the palace, or maybe even the Royal Prison to free Ozai, but Zuko and Katara can handle any issues there, we need to focus on finding people who would help her."  
"Ok," said Aang, his voice dragging. "So who's helped Azula in the past?"  
Sokka thought again for a moment, before coming up with potential suspects.  
"Well, it's pretty safe to assume that Mai and Ty Lee won't help her, the Fire Nation army won't help now they have a new Firelord, so who does that leave?"  
Aang clicked his fingers at the end of Sokka's sentence.  
"The Dai Li! If Azula could convince them to betray their own country, maybe she could convince them to help her regain power!"  
"Yeah, but the Dai Li have disbanded," Toph interrupted. "Most of them are in cells in Ba Sing Se."  
"Well that's a good place to start, we'll head to Ba Sing Se, and see if we can learn anything from the Ex Dai Li agents, agreed?" Sokka said, looking at Aang.  
"Sounds like a good idea, I'll call Appa."

{Zuko}

He realized he was staring at her before he came to his senses. She was standing alone on the balcony overlooking the garden, staring up at the crescent moon.  
He felt a pang of guilt as he approached her, but his guilt could not slake his curiosity.  
"Hey," he said, making her jump at his voice.  
"Oh, hey Zuko," Katara said, turning to face him. He joined her side, leaning on the stone rail as they both stared at the moon.  
"So what's on your mind? You seem distracted," he said, looking back at her moon lit face.  
She looked down, he almost knew the answer before it left her lips.  
"It's Aang. I feel like we've spent all this time apart, and now his gone again."  
Zuko let his disappointment sink in. Aang was still on her mind, perhaps the feelings he thought were there simply weren't.  
_What am I even doing?  
_He turned, making his way back inside.  
"Zuko, what's going on with you?"  
He stopped. He wanted to say her name. She had plagued his dreams ever since their parting, it was only recently he had realized that he was falling in love with her, but being around her now, when she needed a friend the most, was putting him in an unbearable situation.  
"Zuko?"  
He turned back. His name sounded so sweet from her voice. He looked into her deep blue eyes, but the guilt stabbed at him still. Now was not the right time.  
"Oh, it's ahh… Mai! We haven't uhh… Seen a lot of each other lately."  
She smiled softly at him.  
"That must be hard for you. I can only imagine the stress of running a nation."  
"Yeah, well, I'm going to bed, so… See you in the morning?"  
She quickly walked up and grabbed his arm.  
"No no, please stay. I could really use a friend right now…"  
He smiled. It wasn't what he had hoped for, but he was happy to be spending some time with her after the stress of the past months.  
"Sure, I'll stay awhile."

{Azula}

The sun began to sink underneath the mountains behind them. She dropped her backpack to the ground with a thud, followed quickly by her sleeping roll. The long day's march was over, and the relieve of the weight being lifted off her shoulders was only seconded by the fact that she could finally escape Kahchi's ramblings.  
Everyone immediately began dispersing into pre-arranged tasks, while Azula unraveled her roll, her back turned to the group.  
She heard footsteps approaching behind her.  
"Sayuri and I are going to look for some meat. Chibi's coming too. You can either help set up camp with Jian and Zhang, or you can find some firewood with Kahchi," Azzazle said, listing the tasks to her.  
"Or!" she said, removing the water sack from her backpack. "I can stay here, and you can find me something to ride so I don't have to walk like a filthy peasant tomorrow!" she said, in an overly sarcastic tone. At that moment, Sayuri appeared by Azzazle's side. Azula immediately felt jealousy strike her hard.  
"Forget the bitch," said Sayuri in a raspy, yet womanly voice. "If she doesn't want to help, she can go hungry. It's bad enough we have to march three days to Ba Sing Se to avoid attention at the Earth Kingdom dock."  
Azula smiled, a comeback hot in her mind. If it was one thing Azula prided herself on, even above her firebending, it was detecting weakness in others.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I imagine you might have become quite use to walking long distances. The North Pole is so far away after all."  
Azzazle's facial expression shifted into a gob smacked look of shock, and Sayuri had clenched her fists, the vain on her forehead throbbing. Azula had struck a nerve.  
She took advantage of the silence to strike again.  
"Perhaps death was preferable after all, hmm?"  
Sayuri launched at her with a bundled fist, but Azzazle had intercepted her attack, diverting it to the side.  
"Ok!" he yelled, directing Sayuri away from Azula, still holding her arm. "Time to go hunting!"  
Azula smiled as a satisfying feeling filled her. It was good to be back in the game.

It was dark now, and the camp had been established without Azula's help. Jian had created a giant cone shaped earth tent, spanning a diameter of about 20 meters. He had created lookout holes, and a single exit, not counting the top of the pinnacle of the earth tent, revealing the glorious night's sky above them. Azula had set up in the darkness, as far away as she could get from the others, devoid of all company, and the heat of the campfire. At that moment, Azzazle and Sayuri returned. Azzazle was carrying a large dead deer on his shoulders, which he relinquished to Zhang's feet for skinning, Sayuri held two good sized fish, which she handed to Kahchi, who was waiting with a small wooden block to fillet them, and lastly, Chibi came trotting through the walkway, holding what appeared to Azula as a dead rabbit goffer. Chibi immediately spotted her, and began charging over to her, grunting loudly. He stopped directly in front of her, but not before she had shielded herself with her arms. He sat down for a moment, staring at her with his red eyes, before presenting the dead animal at her feet.  
She looked at it in disgust. It's soft fur had been tainted by Chibi's oozing slobber, and it had already appeared to be half chewed, as if he decided halfway through his meal that the tiny, half eaten creature would make a sensible gift.  
"You think I want that?" she said disgusted.  
Chibi wagged his tail happily, edging the carcass towards her with his nose. Azula raised her hand, as if she were about to strike him. Chibi bounced back on his rear legs, snorting happily and wagging his tail, as if it were some sort of game.  
"I think you've got an admirer," said Azzazle, walking over from the group. He stopped to scoop up the dead rabbit goffer, tossing it over the wall, leaving Chibi to bolt after it.  
"I'm not interested," she said, turning away.  
"Ha! Good luck telling Chibi that," he said, taking a seat next to her. She looked at him for a moment, before resting her chin on her knees.  
"Listen, Zhang told me you didn't help set up camp," he said, looking at her with concern.  
"They should be honored to set up camp for me."  
"You think one of those tents is for you? You're mistaken Azula. Listen, I know this is all very new to you, I get it, but you have to help out around here, or you will never earn their respect."  
"It doesn't matter. In time, I will teach_** them**_ respect," she said, venom in her words.  
"What you speak of is fear. Fear and respect are two different things. As the Princess of the Fire Nation, respect has always come easy to you, but out here, you have to earn it. Your title means nothing to them."  
"Then why do they escort me to the Earth Kingdom Capital?" she said, with an almost accusing tone.  
"Why? Because I asked them to. They know this is important to me… They know you're important to me."  
Chibi suddenly returned with the dead animal in his mouth, once again dropping it at Azula's feet. Azzazle picked it up with two fingers, and heaved it over the wall. Chibi once again, charged off after it.  
"You are yet to explain why you care so much. I know your tactic. I'm being set up to be used."  
"You're smarter than this Azula, how could I be trying to use you? You have no pull anymore, you have no firebending, and you have no title. Everything I'm doing, I'm doing to help."  
"And you're not going to tell me why?"  
Azzazle looked away from her, staring at the ground for a moment.  
"I… Can't… Not yet. But we're getting off track. You need to help out more around the camp. Don't give them an excuse to think you're the weak link," he said, staring into her eyes.  
Her eyebrows slanted, as she turned her scowl on him, making him recoil slightly. He had hit one of her most vulnerable weak spots.  
_After all this time… Have I become weak?  
_She refused to believe it.  
Chibi soared in from above, landing between the two, letting the rabbit goffer slide from his mouth onto Azula's sleeping roll. She quickly grabbed it, and finding her anger, threw it with all the strength she could muster against the rock wall, hearing it splat on impact. Chibi cowered; even he had realized that the game was over.  
"Fine," she said, as Chibi slinked off to quietly eat his plaything. "You have my word. I will help out. But don't expect me to mark them as my equals. They are simply my means to an end," she said, folding her arms in a stuck up fashion.  
Azzazle frowned.  
"Is that how you feel about me too?"  
She shot a sideward glance at him, but he quickly pushed himself to his feet.  
"When everyone goes to sleep, you should join me by the fire. Surely you don't intend to be alone out here in the dark."  
He walked away to join the others, leaving Azula staring after him. A stench filled her nose, as Chibi joined her side, looking at her, with a blood smeared grin. She glared at him, and Chibi let out a slight whimper. Receiving the message, he trotted off after Azzazle.

The darkness had fully closed in over at Azula's gloomy corner. She had watched the group eating and talking to each other from afar. She studied them. It had been a long time since she had such heavy human contact, and her skills in manipulation had become blunt over time. She looked for anything she could use. Habits, gestures, body movements towards others in the group, but nothing she observed told her anything incriminating about the gang. They all appeared to work as a team, very little conversation occurred, and after they had all eaten, Jian and Sayuri retired to one tent, while Zhang and Kahchi retired to the other, leaving Azzazle gazing at the stars through the giant hole in the earth tent by the fire.  
She shivered. The night was brisk, and the cold, dark corner reminded her too much of the Asylum. She grabbed her backpack, and rolled her sleeping roll with one hand, walking slowly over to the fire.  
Azzazle sat up alert, and Chibi, wagged his tail at her approach. Azzazle smiled as she dumped her stuff by the fire, unrolling her sleeping bag, joining Azzazle in star gazing.  
"I knew you'd come around," he said with a matter of fact tone.  
"Don't act too proud. I'm just cold," she said, perfectly masking her embarrassment at the comment.  
They both stared at the stars in silence for a moment, as she waited for the strange tingling sensation in her stomach to subside.  
"What are you thinking about right now Azula?" he asked, still letting his eyes drift aimlessly across the sky.  
"I'm thinking about how nice it would be to have some peace and quiet," she said with a yawn.  
Azzazle scoffed, one of his trademark habits.  
"Fair enough," he said, rolling onto his side.  
Chibi joined them, moving in between the gap from Azula to Azzazle, before curling up to sleep. Azula stared a little longer, but her eyes soon grew heavy, as her mind edged into unconsciousness.

She woke to Chibi's less than quiet snore, which could be more accurately described as a sharp inhale with a grunt attached to it. The fire had become cinders, and the darkness was still all around them.  
Azula felt she had slept enough, and with Azzazle's "weak link" comment fresh in her mind, she pushed herself to her feet. She creped out the exit, leaving Azzazle and Chibi still sleeping by the fire. She walked out past the road to Ba Sing Se, to a large meadow on the opposite side. She stood in the center, inhaling slowly. She began her firebending exercises, imagining fire springing from her fingertips as she did. She jabbed the air with her fingers closed together, moving and breathing in synchronization. She gave a final jab, and suddenly was brought back to a long past memory. She saw it as clear as day, the Avatar falling from the sky, after a direct hit with her lightning, only to be caught, by her, the water peasant. Suddenly, a familiar voice filled the air.  
"Ok, look, if you want a boy to like you, just look at him, and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny."  
Azula turned to see Ty Lee in her Fire Nation party clothes. She faintly smiled, deciding to humor herself. "This one is different… I can't explain."  
She reflected on her own words for a moment, then suddenly Ty Lee vanished in a puff of black smoke.  
At that moment, the darkness had changed, as if it had suddenly become daunting, menacing. Her loneness manifested panic inside her, as the night seemed to bare down on her from all angles. Her breathing began to escalate. She realized she was in the middle of an intense panic attack. She looked around, her stress elevating with every turn. Her legs began to carry her; she felt the overwhelming urge to get back to the warmth and safety of the campfire. Her jog became a sprint, back across the road and up a small hill. She planted her foot, feeling the earth slide out from underneath her feet. She lost her balance, reeling backwards. She fell, but let out a grunt as she was caught before she hit the ground. She looked up at the figure to see that Azzazle had caught her.  
""What's wrong? What are you running from- Hey!" he said, swerving to the side of her punch this time.  
"Let me go!" she demanded, her cheeks becoming red hot with embarrassment as she regained control of her senses. She pushed him off, as they both stood for a moment, soaking up the awkward atmosphere.  
"Azula, what are you doing out here?"  
She didn't want to answer, her fatigue had crept back in, and she wanted a few more hours of sleep before she had to march all day tomorrow.  
"Never mind that, let's… Let's just get back to camp," she said, marching off.  
"Uhh, ok. If you say so," he said, following shortly after her.

They arrived back at camp, and Azula had flopped back onto her sleeping roll, just as light began to form on the horizon. Her half hour nap was quickly interrupted by Azzazle. They proceeded to pack up camp, Azula lending a hand to speed things up. With the camp packed, Jian destroyed their shelter and they hit the road.  
Sayuri went on to scout ahead; Azzazle joined Azula and Kahchi in the center, with Jian up back, and Zhang up forward. Halfway through the day's march, as the sun was high in the sky, an arrow landed just in front of Azzazle with two colored ribbons on it, one green and one blue.  
"What's this?" Azula said, withdrawing the arrow from the dirt.  
Azzazle retrieved the arrow off her.  
"A signaling system Sayuri and I came up with. The ribbons indicate what's ahead and its threat level. Blue means travelers, yellow means soldiers or bandits, red means elite troops or trackers, and black… Well, black is Kortaka."  
"And this green ribbon?" She asked holding it up.  
"That's the threat indicator, so blue is travelers with a green ribbon for a low threat level, so they bare no weapons nor do they have the physical build of fighters."  
Azula rolled her eyes. "Clever system," she joked.  
"I thought so," he said with a large smile.  
They marched on, and the next rise they came to, they saw Ba Sing Se in the distance.  
"Ba Sing Se. A different road then the one you took last time right?" Azzazle said, looking at her.  
She ignored him, her mind adrift in the past.  
"Jian said the Dai Li had a secret headquarters just over this side of the wall under a lake. He believes there might still be some passages into the city on this side of the wall, used for smuggling back in the day and all that," Azzazle said staring at the giant wall in the distance.  
Kahchi suddenly spoke up.  
"There must be 10 or more checkpoints between here and that wall. How are we gunna sneak the entire team close enough to get to the passages?"  
Jian had silently joined his side.  
"And there's no guarantee that the passages are still there and intact. Some of the other Dai Li agents may have already spoken up about them, if so, we're screwed."  
They all shot each other worrying glances, but a unanimous and silent understanding spoke all. They were going ahead, for better, or for worst.

_**Sorry that took so long gang. I've been flat stick with work lately, and no, I haven't given up on this fanfiction, so I'll try and spit some more chapters out over the next few weeks, thinking about 12 in all now. Should be fun.**_


	6. Chapter 6: Lessons learnt

{Sokka}

This was the eighth Dai Li agent they had questioned today. Sokka slid the metal door shut with some frustration.  
"Argh, none of these guys will budge!"  
The small group had no luck regarding information about Azula. Some of the Dai Li were still noticeably loyal to her. They asked for anything they could use, places where she might hide out, and people who would aid her, information on agents close to her, but they were answered only with stares.

"Well, this is the last one," said Aang, approaching the next cell. "If we don't get information here, we won't have any more leads."  
"Then we better make this one count," said Sokka with a nod, grabbing the cell door and sliding it open with a loud creak.  
The cell was illuminated by the deep glow of green crystals hanging on each side of the metal wall. The only features were a bed and a chamber pot, and in the far right corner a man who sat quietly in the dark. The group approached the prison-robed man, who raised his head as they drew near.

"The Avatar," he said, as the group stopped in front of him. "To what do I owe the honor?"  
The gang all looked at each other, until Sokka stepped forward.  
"We are chasing information on agents who would help Azula," said Sokka, getting straight to the point.  
"Indeed, I heard she escaped," said the man, looking back down at his feet. "You think I'm aiding Azula from my quaint little cell?" he said coldly, making Sokka shiver a little.  
"No, what I mean is that I'm looking for… Others who might help her…"  
The man looked back up again, as Sokka stared into his light green eyes.  
"And why should I tell you anything?" asked the man, a glimpse of spite in this eyes.  
"We can reward you, if you help us," interrupted Aang.  
The man turned his glance to Aang.  
"And tell me, young Avatar, what reward is fitting of a man who has lost everything? A man who has betrayed his own country?"  
Sokka and Aang shot each other a sideward glance. This was the first agent who seemed remorseful of his actions.  
_Finally, a break!_  
"We can give you your freedom," said Sokka, offering the terms.  
The look in the man's eyes changed at the word.  
"Freedom…" he echoed. "You don't know much about me do you? I was the only one you know, the only one to surrender my freedom… Voluntarily."  
Sokka and Aang both shifted uncomfortably.  
_What do you offer to a man who denies he's own freedom?  
_Aang stepped forward getting on one knee, lowering himself down to the man's eyes.  
"You can't let go of that fact that you betrayed your Kingdom, but if you do this, you may be saving many lives, you could be a secret hero of sorts, one that has restored his honor."  
The man looked back down at his feet again.  
"Secrets… The Dai Li always operated around secrecy. Enough to fool a king into believing he was safe, when the Fire Nation was knocking on his door… Perhaps, it's not so much to ask," he said, as if speaking the last line to himself.  
"What do you want to know?"  
Sokka smiled down at the young Avatar, realizing that he really had grown into a fine protector of the people. He shook his silly grin from his face.  
"Who would help Azula from the Dai Li?" he questioned as Aang rejoined his side.  
"That's not a long list, there's only four agents who aren't in here with us," he said.  
"Who?" questioned Sokka again.  
"There's Shigon, but he isn't helping Azula any time soon."  
"Why's that?" asked Aang inquisitorially.  
The man glared up, catching them both off guard.  
"His dead. Tried to fight his way out of capture at the end of the war. Some fresh faced soldier stabbed him with a spear from behind. A death not fitting of such a skilled agent," he said with remorse.  
"Uhh, ok…" said Aang nervously. "Who else?"  
"Long Feng escaped when the city was re-taken from the Fire Nation, I think he joined up with the Renegades."  
"The Renegades?" mimicked Sokka.  
"A group who is dedicated to hunting down Fire Nation criminals after the war. I imagine he was looking for redemption for his crimes against the Earth Kingdom… Good for him."  
Sokka thought for a second.  
"Well, Long Feng and Azula weren't ever on buddy terms were they? I don't see him aiding her, especially if he hunts war criminals now. Who else?"  
"Baku was a younger agent, he went into hiding by himself when the war ended, but he was often rash and foolish, not to mention easily manipulated. I don't see him aiding Azula without someone pulling his reins," he said. Sokka and Aang looked at each other, until Sokka asked the question that was both on their minds.  
"So… Who would be pulling his reins?"  
The man paused looking off into the distance.  
"There was one more… Jian. He was one of Azula's personal guards on The Day of Black Sun. One of the best. But he fell off the grid at the end of the war. Before I surrendered myself, I kept tabs on all our best agents, but Jian just… Vanished. No surprise, he was an excellent spy."  
Sokka couldn't help squirming with excitement.  
"Do you think he would aid her?" he said.  
"I heard an earthbender helped in Azula's escape. I'd stake my life on it being Jian," he said, confidence beaming in his words.  
"So how would we find him?" asked Toph, who had been patiently waiting with her arms, folded.  
"That's not so easy. Like I said, Jian's the one of the best. However… There is a chance that they may come back here. Jian knew of all the secret entrances into the city that were reserved for only the top ranking members. If they have any reason to come here, Jian will get them inside."  
Sokka looked at Toph, who had closed her eyes out of impatience.

"I guess we better go looking for some tunnels."  
Toph blew her bangs out of her eyes.  
"Yep."

{Azula}

"Remind me what we are doing in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se?" she said, looking around at all the poverty stricken faces.  
Jian, Azzazle and Azula all headed into the city overnight. Jian was careful, moving the small team only a few yards at a time, until he had reached a disused tunnel which was yet to be discovered. From there, they snuck into the city via old Ba Sing Se, leaving Jian to watch their exit point.  
Azzazle ignored her words, instead looking her up and down.  
"Did I ever tell you that you look great in Earth Kingdom clothes?" he said, with a sly smile on his face.  
She mustered up her most powerful glare, throwing in directly into his eyes.  
"Far more then you should have," she fumed.  
Azzazle chuckled.  
"Ok, well, I guess it's time to teach you the lesson my master taught me here."  
"I'm listening," she said impatiently.  
"Well, I wanted to show you this here in Ba Sing Se, because it was the scene of your greatest military triumph. You took down a supposedly impenetrable city in the span of a few days, at fourteen."  
Azula flicked her bangs with a sigh.  
"Yes, I am pretty amazing, this isn't news to me."  
Azzazle raised his eyebrow.  
"Right, anyway, it begins, with a walk," he said gesturing her down the street. They began to walk slowly, as Azula looked around at all of the poor citizens.  
"All of these people can link their poverty to the war with the Fire Nation," said Azzazle.  
"The Fire Nation wasn't oppressing these peasants, the Earth Kingdom is responsible for its own people," she said defensively.  
"You're right, but taxes rise when you have to feed soldiers on the front line, who else but the common folk suffer from this? And besides, most of these people are refugees, are you going to deny that the Fire Nation destroyed their homes?"  
She shrugged.  
"They should have been strong enough to defend them," she stated. At that moment, a short bald man blocked their path.  
"Excuse me, miss? Do you have a silver to spare?" he said, asking Azula directly. She looked over to Azzazle who offered her a slight nod. She reached into her coin purse that Azzazle had given her, removing a silver piece.  
"Here," she said, flicking it at him. He caught it midair.  
"Thank you beautiful young lady! Thank you! Spirits bless your kind heart!" he said, bowing and backing away. She folded her arms and turned to Azzazle.  
"Wow, lesson learned," she said plainly.  
Azzazle grabbed her arm. "Not quite, we're following him," he said, leading her after the man.  
She shook herself free of him and together they briskly tailed him. The man took a turn down a small alley, and Azzazle threw out his hand to stop her from following. They both peered around to see the man was stopped by a another young man.  
"You there! Old timer! I saw you get money off that woman! Hand it over. Now."  
The man cowered.  
"Please, I-"  
He was cut off, the young man threw a punch, knocking the older man off his feet. Azula looked at Azzazle.  
"Now let me guess," she said. "We rush in, and save the day!" she said trying to bolt around him. He grabbed her again.  
"Not yet," he whispered. Azula continued to watch the confrontation as Azzazle began to talk.  
"Elevating those in a poor environment above there fellows, often draws the eyes of others who suffer," he said, as they both watched the young man relieve the unconscious man of his silver piece.  
"So, Azula, what do you think of that man, the mugger?"  
She looked at him perplexed.  
"Why his a thief, scum, what do you expect me to say?" she said, making it sound obvious.  
"Is he?" asked Azzazle. "Let's follow him from the roofs and see where he goes," he said.  
He offered her a hand up, which she slapped away, gaining access to the roof with a quick get up.  
He followed soon after, and they jumped their way from roof to roof, watching the man from above as he swiftly made his way through the streets. A block away, the young man stopped, looking behind him to see if he was followed before walking up to an unassuming shack wedged in-between two buildings. Azzazle gestured to Azula to go low, as they both crawled to the edge of the roof. Azula watched, as a small rag bound girl appeared from the shack across the street.  
"Miki," said the young man. "Look what I found! A silver piece!"  
The little girls eyes lit up as the young man handed it over, stoking her head affectionately before she dived in to hug him.  
"You can eat whatever you want with that piece," said the man, as she snuggled into his stomach.  
"Thank you big brother," she said, withdrawing from him, tears swelling up in her eyes.  
Azula looked beside her into Azzazle's eyes, as he was staring back at her.  
"People become strong, truly strong, when they have something worth fighting for. All lives touch other lives, remember that."  
She looked back down at the pair, as the young man lead the little girl back inside the shack.  
Azula looked back at Azzazle, seeing her chance to take another strike at learning his past.  
"And what makes you strong?" she asked.  
Azzazle smiled at her slightly. "Me? I didn't know you thought I was that strong. I was about to ask you," he said, rising to his feet.  
Azula thought for a second. Her first answer was instinctively to say that she fought for herself and her nation, but the reality sunk in, as she realized who had made her strong.  
"Your father?" Azzazle said, as if reading her mind. She looked at him for a second, admiring his ability to read even her cold exterior shell.  
She pushed herself off the roof, landing on her feet with grace, Azzazle jumping down after her.  
"My father taught me that strength is a virtue above all else. He taught me that weakness is a disease, a disease that would destroy Nations, our Nation. My father envisioned a world where all people everywhere were strong. He was going to free these people like you wouldn't even imagine. They would be forced to become strong, or die. And they may have been better off for it," she said.  
Azzazle stared at her as she spoke, hanging on every word she said.  
"I never knew my father…" said Azzazle suddenly, before staring into the ground with a look of faraway sorrow.  
"Well, you look strong, you must be from good stock," she said, in a poor attempt to cheer him up.  
He looked at her, raising his eyebrow. Azula blushed, realizing what she just implied.  
"No no, what I meant was that you look physically capable," she said. Upon saying the words, she understood that those weren't much better. A smirk began to creep across Azzazle's face. She sighed with frustration.  
"No! What I meant was... Urgh! Forget it!" she said, waving her hand at him before pulling herself from his eyes and storming off down the street.

They began walking back to their entry point into the city, Azula biting her lip into how pointless it was to come all this way for something that Azzazle could have simply told her.  
_I won't give him the satisfaction.  
_Azzazle suddenly stopped as they turned a street to see a restaurant in sight.  
"I am starving," he said, gripping his stomach through his shirt.  
"You can eat later, the sooner we're out of this city, the better," said Azula looking around at several faces who had taken interest in the pair.  
At that moment, a man with a floppy Mohawk walked up to Azula, Kali sticks in hand.  
For a moment, Azula and Azzazle simply stared at the man, as he stared back, his tiny green beaded eyes narrowing in on Azula's waist.  
"…Can I help you?" she said, her patience wearing thin.  
"Saw you give a man some coin. Reckon I could get some of that coin too. Reckon you carry more coin then you let on missy," he said, advancing on her. She realized that he had been staring at her coin purse. Azula looked around, as several armed men began moving in. She looked over to Azzazle.  
"Are we… Are we being mugged?" she asked with surprise, as if the man wasn't listening to her speak.  
"It would appear so," said Azzazle, who edged his way over to her as they went back to back.  
Azula's insides lit up, she hadn't been in a proper fight since the Asylum.  
"I've never been mugged before!" she said, clapping her hands together, unable to contain her excitement.  
"Just… Go easy will you?" asked Azzazle from behind her. The Mohawk man suddenly chimed in.  
"Don't worry, I won't hurt the little girl bad, you on the other hand…"  
"I wasn't talking to you big man," jabbed Azzazle, as a smile crossed Azula's face.  
The man charged forward, and Azula and Azzazle split as he took a horizontal swing at them. Azula ducked as another man with a sword rushed at her wailing. She grabbed his sword arm sliding under him and flipping the man onto his back. Another man with Sais had charged at her from behind. She threw up her leg, kicking one of the Sais free from his hand, sending it soaring into the air. He stabbed at her again, but she had sidestepped it like it was nothing, elbowing him in the face as she maneuvered down the side of his striking arm. He recoiled, clutching his nose, as Azula caught the falling sai in her hand. She turned, throwing it at the Mohawk man who was charging at her. He raised is kali sticks, blocking it as it plunged into one, splitting it down the middle. Azula took advantage of the man's shock, as he stared at his broken kali stick. She charged kicking the other one out of his hand as he swung the other one at her. She ducked, running up and jumping onto his knee that he had extended to give himself a solid stance. She jumped up horizontally, extending her legs and kicking the man in the face with her two feet. He recoiled backwards, as Azula landed next to his disarmed kali stick. The man shook his head briskly, and with a mighty roar, charged at her again. She slid her foot under the stick, flicking it up into her hands, a smile on her face. She waited, until he was a meter away, then she dived at him, rolling under his swing and appearing behind him. She exited her dive on her knees, as she spun around, hitting his foot with his own kali stick. His left leg veered to the side, locking up behind his right, sending him flying into a bunch of unused crates. And as fast as it had begun, the fight was over. Azzazle looked up from his two defeated thugs, as Azula got up and walked over to him, kali stick still in hand. The sword wielding thug slowly got up, but Azula had knocked him on the head as she casually walked by, causing him to collapse unconscious on the ground.  
Azzazle smilied at her.  
"You're a bit of a show off aren't you?" he said, removing a silver coin from his shirt and flicking it at the unconscious Mohawk thug. She smirked at him.  
"Only two huh? Disappointing," she said, gesturing him to follow her with a wink.  
He joined her side, shaking his head with a slight smile.

"You are so mean… And I'm totally ok with that."

{Zuko}

Zuko had been digging around on information on who in the Order of The White Lotus would aid Azula, but to no avail. He sighed as he sat behind his wall of flame in his throne room after a short break in the daily delegations.  
"Continue, General Swatch," he said gesturing his hand to the old general who had been speaking before the break.  
"All in all Firelord, the Central Earth Kingdom will need double what you have sent to them in order to repair trade routes and towns."  
Zuko shook his head. The price for rebuilding after a 100 year war was sending his once wealthy nation on the brink of recession.  
"No, I want those resources diverted back to the Fire Nation, those Asylum upgrades will need to be done swiftly, and we have many displaced workers now that we are not funding the Fire Nation war machine, those families' will need our support."  
The high generals all shot each other worrying glances.  
"But my lord, the Earth Kingdom people are already threating to back King Kuei in his plot against Fire Nation colonies, you need to send them these resources or our people will be in danger!"  
Zuko closed his eyes, his frustration was well justified. Even with the war over, things were still chaotic and ever since Azula's escape and Katara's presence, he had found himself unable to focus in his sessions.  
"Firelord?" Swatch questioned. Zuko snapped back to reality.  
"No, send the supplies, but the money must go to the Asylum, we can't put the suffering of our own people on hold anymore. Where is Suki? Send her and the other Warriors to smooth things over with them!"  
The general paused for a moment.  
"Firelord, I don't think that will work… And besides, the reports say that Suki has headed back to Kyoshi."  
_Just my luck._  
"You have your orders! Now carry them out!" he said, his anger finally reaching tipping point. He stood up, walking briskly out of the room as he did so. He just needed to get away, get away from the people, get away from the heat. He exited the room, to see Katara standing there cross armed, her usually soft, comforting blue eyes had been transformed into a nasty glare.  
_I'm gonna get in now…  
_"Those people need your help? And you're just going to turn your back on them?" she snapped.  
"I want to help them, but my people should come first. You didn't see the Asylum, it's inhumane," he retaliated.  
"Those people are homeless because of what the Fire Nation did!" she protested back, her face beginning to heat up with the argument.  
"The Fire Nation's people shouldn't suffer because of what the army under my father has done to them thousands of miles away!"  
They had zeroed in on each other, exchanging intense glares. Katara looked away in anger.  
"I'm not sure how much longer I can stay here with you. You vowed to help those people."  
"Well there's the door, you go help them yourself!" he said, thrusting his finger way down the hallway. At that moment, they realized that they weren't having the conversation alone.  
"Katara is right Zuko, I understand your frustration, but I've come to help you through these difficult times."  
Zuko's heart leapt at the voice, as he turned to face him.

"Uncle!"


End file.
